Safaricom 2018 Sustainable Business Report

64 INTRODUCTION OUR BUSINESS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 2018 SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT DELIVERING VALUE TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS We continue to monitor our performance and deliver value to our investors through our financial performance and through how we engage and communicate with them. Robust financial performance given conditions We delivered robust financial performance yet again this year, which has resulted in further dividend growth and share appreciation. FY18 FY17 FY16 FY15 EBITDA (KES billion) 112.8 103.6 83.1 71.2 Net income (KES billion) 55.3 48.4 38.1 31.9 Dividend per share proposition 1.1 0.97 0.76 0.64 Free cash flow (KES billion) 55.4 43.5 30.4 27.5 During the year, our net income grew from KES 48.4 billion in FY17 to KES 55.3 billion. Our free cash flow also increased from KES 43.5 billion in FY17 to KES 55.4 billion. We also achieved an EBITDA of KES 112.8 billion, up from KES 103.6 billion in FY17. The EBITDA was sufficient to reduce our net borrowings by KES 12.5 billion, pay dividends of KES 38.9 billion and invest KES 36.4 billion of CAPEX. Active investor engagement We continue to engage with individual investors, fund managers, analysts and other members of the investment community actively. On a regular, ongoing basis, we deliver value to these important stakeholders by ensuring that we are available to them and that we respond to their telephonic, email and message-based enquiries swiftly. We also publish an annual report to keep investors updated on financial and non-financial performance, and we hold an annual general meeting, which provides a forum for discussion and debate with shareholders. We also disseminate information about financial results, reports and upcoming events to shareholders via press releases and other communiqués. In addition, we invite shareholders and other members of the investment community to briefings and workshops as required. During the year, we hosted investor road shows to share our interim and full year results. During these roadshows, we update shareholders on our strategy and outlook. Roadshows were held in the UK, Europe, America, Canada, Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Nairobi. We also continue to maintain an up-to-date investor dashboard on the Safaricom website, which enables investors to access a wide range of information conveniently and easily, including our investor calendar of events and forms, analyst coverage, fact sheets, share price information, half year and full year results, along with information regarding our current governance processes, sustainability objectives and performance. Please refer to the Safaricom Annual Report at https://www.safaricom.co.ke/ annualreport_2018/ for more detailed information and discussion regarding our financial performance. Sustainable development in financial markets An expression of our commitment to the SDGs and goal 17, in particular, we were silver sponsors of the 7 th Building African Financial Markets (BAFM) seminar in Nairobi. The theme of the seminar was “adaptive innovation as a lever for growth and sustainable development of financial markets”. S D G 1 7